How To Use Your E-Cigarette

I suppose before you read any further, you should bear in mind that this is a fairly generic piece that describes the basics of how most electronic cigarettes work. There are literally hundreds of e-cigarette models in existence today, though, and quite a few of them have their own nuances that are slightly of even substantially different from the way typical electronic cigarettes work.

If you want to know how to use any of the electronic cigarette models sold on this website, please refer to the user’s guides that we have created for each one. You can view the user’s guides by clicking the User’s Guide tab on any starter kit’s page.

E Cigarette Starter Kit User’s Guide

The instructions that come with an e-cigarette starter kit aren’t great (to say the least). We hope this e cig starter kit user’s guide will be easier to understand and get you well on your way to a great vaping experience. It is a great reference to use before or after you buy an electric cig.

Charging the Batteries of Your E Cigarette

There is a lot of debate about whether you should completely charge an e cigarette’s battery when you get them or use them straight out of the box. After consulting with several electrical engineers and lots of trial and error, we have concluded that there is no sound basis for a mandate that an e-cig battery be charged for 8 hours before it is ever used.

We always recommend charging a completely drained battery, whether it is the battery’s first charge or a “between use” charge; therefore, we say “use your e-cig batteries right out of the box.” Keep in mind, though, that the manufacturer often puts just a minimum charge in e-cig batteries in order to test them before shipping and that the vapor you get from a less than fully charged e-cigarette battery may not be ideal. A fully charged e-cigarette battery will always produce superior vapor when compared to a battery that isn’t fully charged.

To Charge Your E Cigarette Batteries:

Plug your e-cigarette charger into a wall outlet. The light on your charging box should turn green. If you have a USB style charger, keep in mind that e-cig batteries take a lot longer to charge when they are relying on a computer or car’s battery to power them. If you have the option, pick the wall outlet every time!

Screw the threaded side of your e-cig battery (the longest piece in your starter kit) into the hole of the charging box. Please do not screw it in too tightly (this could damage the charging unit and/or battery). The LED light on the battery should flash a few times and the LED on the charging unit should turn red. Every e cigarette battery does something different when it is plugged into a charger. The most important part is making sure that the charging unit’s LED changes to red. If it doesn’t turn red, it is not going to charge the battery!

If this is the first time you are charging this battery, leave it on the charger for at least 8 hours. Subsequent charges should be at least an hour to an hour and a half for small e-cigs like the Joye 510 or DSE901 and at least three hours for the big battery models like the Joye eGo, T-Rex or Evolution-X.

NOTE: The first time you charge an e-cigarette battery, the LED on the charger will turn green long before the battery is completely charged. Ignore the light and charge it for a minimum of 8 hours. After that first full charge, the LED indicator is usually pretty reliable at notifying you when a battery is fully charged for regular between use charges.

Assembling Your E Cigarette

Screw the battery (the longest piece in your starter kit) onto the atomizer (the only piece that will screw into it). Just screw the two items together until the atomizer comes to a stop. DO NOT screw the two pieces together too tightly or the post inside of the battery may get pushed down inside of the battery, damaging it permanently.

Unwrap one of the cartridges from its plastic packaging and remove the protective cap. If it a pre-filled cartridge, just push the end where the plastic cap was onto the atomizer (the open end that is not screwed onto the battery). If the cartridge is unfilled, consult the Filling Your E Cigarette Cartridges with E Juice section, below, before attaching it to the atomizer.

Your e-cig is now assembled and ready for use!

Using Your E Cigarette

Some e-cigarettes have automatic batteries and some are manual, push button battery models. There are pros and cons to each.

With an automatic battery model like the DSE901 e-cigarette, there is a microprocessor in the battery that senses when someone inhales. The battery automatically powers the atomizer, generating vapor in the cartridge. Although an automatic battery is convenient for people needing the hands-free-cig, automatic battery e-cigarettes are also a little more of a challenge for brand new users of e-cigarettes to get the hang of. Drawing too hard or too easy will produce very little vapor. Also, automatic batteries are unsealed which permits e-liquid to get down inside of them. For this reason, automatic batteries tend to have a shorter lifespan than manual batteries do.

The Joye 510, Joye eGo, T-Rex and Evolution-X e-cigarettes sold on this website are all manual, push button e-cigs. With a manual button battery, you need to push and hold down the button to activate the atomizer. As long as you are holding down the button, vapor is produced. While it is true that this type of e-cigarette model cannot be used hand free, they are, by far, the easiest type of e cigarette to use and tend to produce more consistent results.

PLEASE NOTE: Most e-cigarettes have an automatic cutoff built into the batteries that prevent users from dragging on them for too many consecutive seconds. This aids in keeping people from burning their atomizers up due to overindulgence. Each model is different but most cut you off after 5-7 seconds of continuous activation. If this happens, the battery will flash several times and when it stops flashing, it will be ready for use again.

Everybody smokes traditional cigarettes differently so it only stands to reason that e-cigs are no different. What works for one person may not work for another. The way that we have found that works the best for most people is to drag as lightly on your e-cig as you can. This permits the airflow to move slowly from the atomizer to the e-liquid in the cartridge, giving it time to vaporize. Dragging too hard on an e-cigarette will produce less than desirable vapor since the air rushes past the e juice so quickly, it doesn’t have time to properly vaporize it.

Filling Your E Cigarette Cartridges with E Juice

E-juice (also called e-liquid or Liquid Nicotine) is what you are really “vaping.” When a cartridge dries out, it puts out very little vapor and each drag begins to taste like you are “smoking” an old rag. If you did not get at least a 30ml bottle of e-juice with your starter kit, you will go through the pre-filled cartridges or the 5ml bottle of e-juice that comes supplied with a kit very quickly.

If you purchased a bottle of e-juice with your starter kit or if it came supplied with blank cartridges and a small bottle of e-liquid, you can “top off” a cartridge you are using or you can fill a completely unfilled cartridge.

Topping Off Your E Cigarette Cartridge: Topping off a previously filled e-cig cartridge is quite easy. Remove the cartridge from the atomizer and you will see the white filler material from the side that was connected to the atomizer. Just add a drop at a time until it looks like a “slushy.” When you are adding drops, remember:

If it still looks like a piece of gauze, it needs at least one more drop.

If it looks like a small lake, there is one drop too many (no big deal).

If it looks like a “slushy,” it is filled to perfection.

Filling a Brand New E-Cigarette Cartridge: You can use the same method described above for filling a brand new electric cig cartridge; it just takes a lot more drops. Most models take about 15 drops to fill a brand new cartridge all the way. The larger Mega Evolution-X cartridges hold about 30 drops of e-liquid.